


all of my heroes sit up straight

by hardlygolden



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Banter, Case Fic, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21844675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardlygolden/pseuds/hardlygolden
Summary: Thanks for the great prompt! Happy holidays and I hope you enjoy your story.Title from 'Second Chances' by Gregory Alan Isakov.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	all of my heroes sit up straight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [debirlfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/debirlfan/gifts).



> Thanks for the great prompt! Happy holidays and I hope you enjoy your story. 
> 
> Title from 'Second Chances' by Gregory Alan Isakov.

Rachel’s been a good influence on Tim. Lucy already knew this in abstract, but it’s brought into stark realisation when Tim only mocks her for two minutes for being late, before letting it go.

“Come on, Boot,” he says, and the difference these days is that most of the time, he’s smiling - even if she can only tell that because of how well she knows him by now. To everyone else, the slight twitch of his lips probably looks more like mild indigestion.

Lucy’s parents are both psychologists, so she makes a conscious choice not to delve any more deeply into the reasons why she has spent so much time to cataloguing every quirk and facial expression of Tim Bradford. It's just proximity, hours in a patrol car. 

*  
Sergeant Grey has gathered them all in the Station’s briefing room to talk through a new assignment. He's been on the phone in his office for the past half hour, door closed, in do not disturb mode. She, Jackson and Nolan are sitting side-by-side in solidarity, as they always do, even though they’re in short sleeves now (and in the summer heat, she is more than ever grateful for that).

Tim and Lopez are seated the row behind. She overhears Tim ask Lopez a question about Wesley, vaguely registers Lopez’s evasive answer however Jackson is asking her a question and as she turns to him, she hears Sergeant Grey clear his throat, and the surrounding conversations pause and then cease entirely.

All eyes turn to Grey, who walks to the board and pins up a photograph.

“This is today’s assignment,” he intones.

As one, everyone’s gaze looks first to the board, and then straight to Nolan. Lucy is no different. When she looks at Nolan, she sees his eyes are very wide. He hasn’t turned around, but she can tell he knows that all eyes are on him.

Of course, to an extent they have been since the moment he walked through those doors a year ago, a middle-aged rookie having what most people thought must be some kind of mid-life crisis.

Lucy wishes that more mid-life crises manifested themselves in dedicated police work rather than in overpriced sports cars. The world would be a better place. 

Harper snorts, and - as usual - says what everyone else is thinking. “ _Nolan’s_ our assignment?”

Sergeant Grey pauses. “I admit,” he says, giving a cursory glance towards Nolan, and then returning his attention to the board, “there is something of a resemblance. But this man is Rick Castle.”

Looking around, Lucy can see that some of her fellow officers have recognised the name, but there are equally as many confused faces. Tim’s is one of them. She swivels around in her chair to face him.

“Rick Castle is an author,” she says in a low undertone. “We read his book in my book club last year.”

Tim shakes his head. “Of course you’re in a book club.”

“Before you say anything else,” she retorts, “you should be aware that Rachel _hosts_ the book club.”

Tim - with obvious reluctance - bites down whatever biting comment he was about to make. She can’t help feeling smug. This whole Rachel thing truly _is_ the gift that keeps on giving. She is a genius for setting the two of them up. 

Sergeant Grey is continuing with his briefing. “Rick Castle is in town this weekend for the premiere of a movie based on one of his novels. Towards the end of filming, there were some - suspicious incidents - on set, and a few threats. We’ve been asked to provide an additional security presence at the premiere, in case there's any escalation.”

“Don’t these Hollywood types usually outsource on private security?” says Harper skeptically. “I can’t imagine money is an issue for those big shot studio types.”

“There will already be security present,” says Grey, his tone leaving no doubt what he thinks as to the standard of that security compared to his officers. “However, I’ve also agreed to have several of our officers attend, both in uniform and plainclothes.”

“With all due respect, Sarge,” says Lopez, “this feels more like a milk run than an actual assignment. Crimes don't stop because a few movie stars are in town."

“Think of this more as a - professional courtesy,” says Grey. “The request came directly from a former colleague of mine in the New York office.”

*

“When Grey said plainclothes, turns out he actually meant penguin suit,” says Jackson, tugging uncomfortably at his bowtie. "This is literally the _least_ plain thing I've ever worn." 

Lucy elbows him. "You play your cards right, this won't be your last red carpet premiere, so you better get used to it." He rolls his eyes, but he's smiling - and looking at his reflected happiness, she remembers what those first few weeks of a relationship feel like. The last time she felt like that was with Nolan. She's moved on from that in every way that counts, knows she made the right choice, but at the same time she thinks she might always just be a little bit in love with John Nolan. He’s a _good_ man - and after the atrocities and cruelties she’s confronted with each day out on the streets, she has come to value his implacable kindness and decency more than ever.

Harper is wearing an off-the-shoulder purple ballgown and heels, looking for all the world like she was born on a red carpet. She looks equally as comfortable and as confident in that outfit as she does when she's playing Crystal. That said, with how enigmatic she is about her past, for all Lucy knows, she could have been a Hollywood starlet. Her acting skills are certainly impeccable. 

By now, basically every star has done the obligatory red carpet lap, talked amiably to the reporters, answered the same three questions and posed by the promotional banners. She didn't know that people's teeth could be that white in real life. The assistants hovering at their shoulders are making gestures for them to move on, which means the movie must be about to start. 

Lucy is reaching her arm to subtly check her watch for the third time, when she hears the gun shot - followed by a scream. She takes off as fast as she can to where the sound came from. Tim is running alongside her. 

By the time she arrives, both Jackson and Harper are already deep in conversation with one of the witnesses. One of the lead actors is sitting on the ground looking dazed but unharmed, a bullet hole prominent in the promotional movie poster beside him. 

“Kate Castle,” the woman introduces herself briskly, extending her hand to Tim and Lucy when they arrive on scene in their uniforms, the crowd parting before them.

She’s dressed in a patterned red cocktail dress, but there’s a sleek efficiency about her movements that Lucy recognises from a fellow officer. This must be the link to the New York office that Grey was referring to. She vaguely remembers hearing at her book club that he had married the officer he'd paired up with for his research. Maybe some relationships in the force do work out. 

“Shots were fired from the north-east,” Kate says, delivering a quick summary, and then her eyes widen suddenly. 

Lucy whirls around to see what has caught Kate so off-guard. It's Nolan who has walked up to them. “I’ve just checked the perimeter and there’s no sign of the shooter. I did have to move on a bunch of reporters who were a little too interested, though.”

The young woman standing next to Kate looks up from her phone and does a double-take.

“Excuse me, officer,” says the young woman, sweetly. “Can I please get a photo with you?”

Nolan is bemused but obliges.

Lucy hears the young woman mutter “Dad’s doppelganger” under her breath as she types out a caption for Instagram.

Harper is walking towards them, barefoot. She's carrying her heels in one hand, and her other hand is on the shoulder of a man who has his hands cuffed behind him. 

"Look who I found behind the dumpster in the alley," says Harper.

On the man's forehead is a red mark that looks like it would correspond with the size and shape of a woman's high heel shoe, hurled at just the right velocity. Lucy decides that as soon as they get back to the office, she's going to schedule in some time for Harper to show her some more fighting styles. 

*

Tim and Lucy are driving back to the station when a call is put through from Holly at Dispatch. “Fire at a residential address in Oakwood, a few blocks from your location. Engine 17 are five minutes out, but there’s reports of a potential domestic altercation so I’d feel better having some uniforms on scene.”

“On it,” Tim replies, taking the next left and navigating them to the address Holly provided. 

They see the smoke, but it’s the sound of voices they follow as they round the corner. In the background, the strident and familiar wail of a fire engine approaches.

The woman is already talking animatedly to someone on the phone but when she sees them, she hangs up and turns to Lucy and starts talking and gesturing wildly towards the still-burning structure in the corner of the backyard.

The man is standing there with a hose, half-heartedly pointing at the ground. Tim wrenches it out of his hands and turns the faucet pressure as high as it can go, guides the man a few steps forward and then places the hose back in his hand.

“Ma’am,” Lucy says to the woman who hasn't stopped talking since they arrived on scene, then - louder - “Ma’am. You’re going to have to slow down.” She’s taking notes automatically, her pen trying to keep up with the barrage of words.

Tim leans over Lucy’s shoulder, glancing at the notepad she’s scribbling on. “What the hell’s a ‘She Shed’?”

**Author's Note:**

> If you're scratching your head over the last scene - it's a bonus cameo from another of debirlfan's other Yuletide requests (which I wasn't familiar with either but looked up the video out of interest and then was inspired to include it as a bonus surprise!)


End file.
